SAILING INTO TROUBLE

After traveling by sailboat to many remote islands around the Caribbean for 5 years, on June 14th, 2013, my wife, Ann-Marie, and I were on our way from Tres Puntes on the coast of Guatemala to the Rio Dulce River in our 44’ Island Packet sailboat. As we approached the sand bar at the entrance to the river, my face became flushed and I developed an enormous headache. While trying to navigate the entrance of the river, I found that I couldn’t focus on the compass to stay on course. It felt like my eyes were crossing so I couldn’t steer properly. The next thing I knew, I was on a panga (a small dugoutstyle motorboat used throughout Central and South America) headed for the local hospital in Livingston.

When I passed out, Ann-Marie had taken the wheel and headed us back out to sea to ensure we didn’t run aground. Along the way, she spotted three young men in a panga and yelled for them to help.

“If you plan to charter multiple times a year and you enjoy it, you need to buy. I love the flexibility of use and that fact that we own a boat in the British Virgin Islands. As a Moorings Owner we don’t have to worry about hurricanes, insurance, dockage, repairs or maintenance. We use it, we enjoy it, and we love it. You get to explore more, and you meet a whole boating community. It also provides an opportunity to plug in with the locals, and you get to know people in a different light. We will be in the program for five years and in the end we can trade her in, phase her out, or sell her through Moorings Brokerage—we’ve got options. We plan to phase her out and bring her back to Virginia, maybe stop in Cuba and Key West on the way. In the end, we hope for her to be our floating condo in Florida,” David revealed.